


Stanley Worries

by veereble_atsim_iali



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Family Feels, Happy Ending, Not what he seems, Sad, Spoilers, if you don't want to be spoiled don't read
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 08:52:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3523097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veereble_atsim_iali/pseuds/veereble_atsim_iali
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Episode cap to Not What He Seems. Dealing with the aftermath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stanley Worries

**Author's Note:**

> So, this episode gave me so many feels that it kickstarted my writing again. It's a bit of a mess but so are my emotions, hahaha. Just a drabble.
> 
> Edit: I kind of forgot about the house being trashed, so I went back and added a few details. This is why you shouldn't post in the dead of night, kids!

The house was still recognizable. Some things were worse for wear and the house may have been ripped off its foundation- something they should all be more concerned about since they were still under its roof, but they were all too tired to care- but it was still home. The same carpet on the floor- though it was practically threadbare in places- and his same furniture- thrown about and damaged but still in the same general area they had been before he left. Hell, his recliner was still parked in front of the television after he flipped it back over, though the cushion was squashed and an annoying spring was digging into his left cheek.

Thirty years, and Stanford had tried to keep everything the same.

Okay, the museum was new, but everything else was the same. A bachelor pad in essence and bare in places.

Stanley sighed and tipped his head back to rest on the back of his chair, ignoring the grit in his hair. His twin was looking for some clothes he could wear, and his granddaughter, Mabel, was cooking in the kitchen.

Grandchildren… that had been a surprise. Almost as big of surprise as seeing Stanford; he had seemed so old and tired. It was a lot to take in.

And, he thought as slanted his eyes towards the couch, his grandson seemed upset, to put it lightly.

Dipper, as Stanford had called him, sat hunched in on himself, face sullen and distant, and clutched one of Stanley’s Journal’s to his chest. There was a tightness around his eyes and dark circles underneath spoke of many sleepless nights.

It was concerning. There was so much tension between the boy and his family, as if something had been broken before Stanley had even stepped foot out of the portal. It was painfully familiar.

He could clearly remember writing ‘Trust No One’ in fits of paranoia in his Journals, the demon having polluted his thoughts until even his own twin had seemed like an enemy. He had been left all alone, thinking only Bill Cipher, that conniving triangular demon, was his only friend.

Stanley repressed a shudder. Surely Dipper hadn’t fallen to that demon’s charms as well?

The signs were there, or at least the potential to be that monster’s plaything was there. All it took was some discord, a lack of trust, and Bill had been so clever at planting those before. Bill had an understanding of humans, of their fears and insecurities and the way they ticked- he was a demon of the mind after all- and he played to his strengths.

But, there was some hope at least. Stanley knew the signs and the demon’s tricks- he could fight for his family this time, and he would. He wouldn’t let Bill destroy his family once again.

“Dipper,” he called to the boy, smiling a tired smile, “just how did you find my Journal?”

Dipper sent him a look filled with suspicion, and clung tighter to the book as if his grandfather would take it from him. 

“I’m just curious,” Stanley soothed and shifted into a better position to look Dipper straight in the eyes.

“It was just luck.” Dipper shrugged his bony shoulders and hunched down more into his seat, his trucker hat shading his eyes.

“I’d like to hear it,” he said softly, wishing he could offer his grandson some comfort. It probably wouldn’t go so well- the kid looked as easily startled as a deer.

“You said….” Dipper finally made eye contact, his eyes wet and lost. “You said the portal would destroy the universe if it was opened.” He started to tremble.

Stanley had written something like that in his Journals, though he had hidden it with invisible ink.

“I thought,” he continued, voice thick with tears, “we were going to die, that Grunkle Stan was going to kill us all!” His voice cracked on his shriek. “Mabel…” Tears spilled from his eyes to drip off his chin. “Mabel listened to him.” Not me.

The kitchen was dead silent.

Not wasting another moment, Stanley rose from his chair to kneel before Dipper. “Dipper,” he began uncertainly and reached up to grasp the boy’s shoulders.

“I trusted her.” Dipper choked on a sob.

Obviously eavesdropping, Mabel dashed out of the kitchen with tears streaming down her face and jumped recklessly on to her twin. 

Dipper flailed in surprise and they both went crashing to the floor in a tangle, knocking the breath from both of them.

Mabel just clung tighter. “Dipper! I’m sorry, so sorry. Please don’t hate me!” Her face was buried into her brother’s chest, shoulders heaving with sobs.

“Mabel!” Knocked out of his mood, Dipper squirmed underneath his twin, tears momentarily forgotten. “What are you-?”

“Don’t hate me,” she whispered back, still refusing to lift her face. “Please don’t hate me.”

A guilty look stole across Dipper’s face. “I don’t,” he tripped over the word, “hate you.”

“Don’t lie.” Mabel’s voice was small and scared.

“I don’t,” he insisted and wrapped his arms around her. “I could never hate you, you’re my twin.” Arms trembling, Dipper squeezed Mabel closer and buried his face in her hair. 

“Really?”

“I promise.”

Stanley sat back on his heels, watching his grandchildren heal the damage in their bond. It warmed his heart to see that there was still some hope for Dipper. And maybe, there was hope for the rest of the family as well.


End file.
